Toyota sells part of stake in Tesla Motors

Toyota Motor Corp. has sold a part of its stake in American electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc., according to a report by the Nikkei financial newspaper. Toyota made a $50-million investment in Tesla in May 2010, just a month before the EV maker launched its initial public offering.

While the size of its current stake in Tesla remains a mystery, Toyota said at the time of the investment that it would have a 2.5-percent holds in the American company. During its IPO, Tesla set a price of $17 per share. That surge nearly 14 times to $235.29 as of October 23, 2014, in New York.

Tesla and Toyota has agreement in which the EV maker supplies batteries and motors for the electric versions of the RAV4 that went on sale in 2012. The supply agreement, however, will be terminated by the end of 2014 after the Japanese carmaker just sold 20,000 units

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk remarked that the EV maker could ink a new agreement with Toyota in the next two to three years. Aside from Toyota, Daimler has sold its stake in Tesla. Unlike Toyota, Daimler sold its entire stake to register a gain of $780 million, after buying it for only $50 million in May 2009.